There is a lot of talk in the employment sector about Purple Squirrels – the mythical perfect candidate. A Purple Squirrel has a resume illustrating skills and experience that aligns perfectly with the job or event staffing description, bullet point by bullet point. They have fantastic presentation. Their salary requirements are in line with what the company is looking to pay. In theory, this nearly mythical Purple Squirrel could immediately handle all the imagined responsibilities of any position without any training, seamlessly integrating the the culture of the office and being a loyal, long term employee.

Just saying, purple squirrels have been found in Pennsylvania

Much has been written about the Purple Squirrel conundrum – the excess of applicants in the job market and yet no one is ‘qualified’ for the vacant position. There are a lot of interesting articles out there trying to parse where the blame lies; the unrealistic expectation of those in charge of hiring, technical failings of HR software, the glut of applications to any position overwhelming the protracted hiring process, the psychological implications to your business of always hoping someone better is still out there. Despite this, every company still wants a Purple Squirrel. But what if a Green Squirrel is the answer?Read the rest of this entry »